Fujitsu Planning Global Push For Easy-To-Use Android For Seniors

Fujitsu’s not been a very visible player on the smartphone scene, at least not outside of Asia, but the company may be interested in doing something about that by targeting a very niche market. President Masami Yamamoto recently discussed some of Fujitsu’s plans for raising its global profile, including bringing a smartphone targeted at senior citizens to the West.

The Raku-Raku phone (meaning easy-to-use) runs a modified build of Ice Cream Sandwich with big, easy-to-see buttons and on-screen indicators. So far exclusive to Japan, Fujitsu now intends to bring the phone to markets in the US and Europe. The hardware’s not particularly high end, so it’s hard to get excited about the Raku-Raku in specific, but we’re still intrigued to hear that Fujitsu is trying to do something about its international presence.

Unfortunately, that won’t translate into bringing its higher-end Arrows series to new markets – at least not yet – but we’re hopeful that someday the company will be ready to share those Androids with us all.

Stephen has been writing about electronics since 2008, which only serves to frustrate him that he waited so long to combine his love of gadgets and his degree in writing. In his spare time, he collects console and arcade game hardware, is a motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys trapping blue crabs. Stephen's first mobile device was a 624 MHz Dell Axim X30, which he's convinced is still a viable platform. Stephen longs for a market where phones are sold independently of service, and bandwidth is cheap and plentiful; he's not holding his breath. In the meantime, he devours smartphone news and tries to sort out the juicy bits Read more about Stephen Schenck!